The blue sky resembled a vast canvas, adorned with a few clouds, evoking a wonderfully uplifting mood in anyone who gazed upon it.
In a courtyard of the Uchiha clan in Konoha Village, in the Land of Fire.
“Ah!”
Fei Niao let out a heavy sigh; he knew that Uchiha Fugaku wouldn’t seek him out without reason. Sure enough, it was about testing students, and he had been reported. To make matters worse, he had run into the elder at an inconvenient time.
The old man looked at him as if he had seen some rare beauty, his eyes sparkling with excitement, and then he seized the opportunity to lecture him, his mouth moving non-stop.
“Although your medical skills are impressive, that’s no excuse for testing students using such extreme methods. The bell-snatching game not only enhances a class’s teamwork but also fosters bonds among peers. The only danger in this game lies with the instructor… What can your method cultivate? Resistance to poison? Or training them to bond over squatting in the toilet together?”
“We, the Uchiha clan, have gone years without producing a single instructor. Do you know why? It’s because of teachers like you who play by no rules, digging a big hole at the bottom of a family that has already hit rock bottom and then kicking it a few times, shoving us deeper into that pit.”
Seeing that the elder had no intention of stopping, Fei Niao wiped the spittle off his face and looked up at the old man, patiently explaining, “Elder, my intentions were quite clear; I wanted to test those three students…”
Before Fei Niao could finish his sentence, the elder slammed the table, interrupting him while continuing to berate him.
“Testing their bathroom time, is it?”
“Ha~ha~”
Fei Niao let out a cold laugh and resolutely closed his eyes, choosing not to listen to the old man’s nonsense. The elder had a bad heart, with no children or family; if he were to aggravate him and cause him to fall ill… he would be lying there today, in the hospital tomorrow, and back home the day after.
The sun began to set, and the tea had already been refilled five times.
Smelling the aroma of food wafting through the air, the elder finished his last cup of tea, looking at the frowning Fei Niao with delight in his heart.
It had been so many years since he felt this good. The last time was when he had just become a ninja and received praise from Lord Madara.
“I promised the parents of those three students that I hope you will teach them earnestly and systematically in the future, without any ill intentions.”
As the elder lectured, he stood up, preparing to leave for dinner. But just as he stood, a rush of heat surged from his thigh straight to his brain.
Buzz!
As his head exploded, the elder felt his legs becoming unresponsive.
It’s over.
He had sat cross-legged for too long, and his legs had fallen asleep.
Watching the elder lose grip of his cane and topple towards him, Fei Niao's pupils contracted sharply.
Damn it, I’ve listened to you ramble all afternoon, and you want to pull a fast one on me as you leave?
With no one else around, if this old man falls in front of me, I won’t be able to explain myself!
Thinking this, Fei Niao lifted his foot and kicked directly at the elder’s face.
As he watched the foot grow larger in his line of sight, the elder was about to shout, but then he felt a heavy blow to his forehead, and his entire body was sent flying backward by a tremendous force.
Bang!
The elder flew through the door of Fugaku's guest room, crashing into the house.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Fugaku, who had just come out of the kitchen, appeared in the courtyard after hearing the noise.
Looking at the human-shaped hole in his guest room door, Fugaku turned to Fei Niao and asked, “What happened?”
“Phew!”
Fei Niao took a deep breath, faced the hole, made a gesture of reconciliation from a distance, and spoke in a low voice, “Elder, I concede.”
After saying that, he turned to his clan leader and continued, “Lord Clan Leader, the elder just wanted to test my skills; we momentarily failed to control the intensity. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave!”
“Not staying for dinner?”
“No, thank you for your kindness, Clan Leader.”
Whoosh!
At that moment, as Fei Niao’s figure disappeared, Uchiha Mikoto, wearing an apron, appeared beside Fugaku, holding a frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. After glancing at the big hole in the door, she showed a worried expression and asked, “Elder, are you alright?”
“I’m fine! Very fine! I’m very happy today!”
After that, the elder leaned on his cane, smiling, and walked out of the room.
Looking at the dust-covered elder with a large footprint on his face, Uchiha Mikoto hesitated for a moment before asking again, “Are you really okay?”
“Absolutely fine!”
The elder brushed off the dust on his clothes, glanced at Mikoto’s pregnant belly, and then turned his head to look in the direction where Fei Niao had disappeared, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.
Slap!
After pondering for a moment, he gently poked the stone slab with his cane and said slowly, “Ever since Tsunade developed her blood phobia, that kid is now the strongest medical ninja in terms of combat power and has the best medical ninjutsu among combat ninjas.
A perfect bodyguard choice.
Recently, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, is choosing suitable candidates to form the Hokage’s guard. I feel he is just right…
The Uchiha clan has been suppressed for so long by the stick; it’s time to give them a sweet date.”
Fei Niao, of course, had no idea that Uchiha Fugaku’s family was discussing him. He had already left the clan grounds and arrived at the Valley of the End outside Konoha Village.
That’s right, the place where Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama had their decisive battle.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Hearing the loud sounds coming from the distant waterfall, Fei Niao stroked his chin with one hand and looked at the rushing water, secretly thinking to himself,
This is indeed a great place to practice water stepping.
Even if one falls off the waterfall and breaks a bone, there’s no need to worry. After all, I’m a doctor…
Between the waterfall’s crash course and the steady stream method, Fei Niao ultimately chose the waterfall as the location for his students to enhance their abilities.
The remaining time could be squeezed out completely to train in other areas; it’s not like the era of Naruto, where there’s ample time to play in the stream.
“Hey, whose little brats are you? Where are the adults?”
Fei Niao had been wanting to ask this question for a long time. When he first arrived at the waterfall, he saw three little kids standing there. After standing there for quite some time, he still hadn’t seen their adults.
Are they really that carefree, letting three kids come to the waterfall alone?
“Ahem~”
One of the children placed a fist against his mouth, cleared his throat, and mimicked the arrogant manner of his elders, saying in a childish voice, “We are from the Uchiha clan, here to watch Madara…”
Bang!
Fei Niao kicked the speaking child off the cliff, sending him flying into the pool below.
The other two children, seeing their friend reveal their identity only to be kicked down, instantly looked terrified, tears streaming down their faces as they cried out, “Wah, Mommy… there’s a bad guy…”
“I want to go home.”
Clang!
A kunai suddenly plunged into the spot where the child had just been kicked off the cliff. The two still crying children saw the kunai emanating a black, ominous glow through their fingers, and their tears quickly dried up.
Is this guy going to eat children…?
Before they could find a way to escape, they suddenly felt as if their bottoms had been slapped, and their feet could no longer touch the ground.
After glancing at the child who was flying down the cliff, Fei Niao turned to the trees behind him and frowned, saying, “Come out!”
As soon as he finished speaking, two masked ninjas appeared in front of him in an instant.
Fox mask… tiger mask… black tight-fitting clothes… white suspenders…
Seeing their attire, Fei Niao instantly understood where these two came from.
They were either ANBU or Root.
But since they had attacked him just now, it was highly likely they were from Root.
“Hey! Hey!”
Fei Niao rubbed his forehead with one hand, calculated the time in his mind, and asked in confusion, “Shouldn’t you have come to say that Lord Danzo wants to see me?? Why did you attack me directly??”
The two Root ninjas exchanged glances and then drew their short blades, charging at Fei Niao one after the other.
Clang!
A black kunai blocked the short blade.
Fei Niao gradually withdrew the smile from his face and said slowly, “Twenty seconds!”
After finishing, he abruptly lifted the kunai, separating the other’s short blade before swiftly swinging it to the left.
Clang!
He blocked the other short blade again, then raised his right leg and kicked at the person’s chest.
Immediately after, he flashed away, creating distance between him and the two.
“Fire Release…”
Fei Niao took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, and his eyes instantly turned crimson, with the air around him faintly feeling as if it were burning.
“Grand Fireball Jutsu!”
Flames erupted from his mouth, igniting the surrounding air as a massive wall of fire appeared in front of the two Root ninjas, resembling an ocean of flames.
The pupils of the two ninjas shrank sharply as they gazed at the fiery ocean before them, swallowing hard as their hands formed seals at varying speeds.
Water Release: Water Pillar Technique!
At the moment the flames approached, the water molecules in the air began to surge wildly, rapidly forming two massive water pillars that enveloped the two Root ninjas.
Sizzle!
As the flames collided with the water pillars, a large amount of steam rose up, completely shrouding the high platform in mist.
The two Root ninjas felt the searing heat from the surrounding steam and quickly took off their masks which were almost melting, warily scanning their surroundings.
The thick steam blurred the environment, making it impossible to know where the Uchiha's next attack would come from.
Pfft!
Fei Niao spat on the ground, watching the large cloud of steam in front of him. He casually picked up a stone from the ground and plunged right into it.
In less than a second, two crisp sounds echoed from within the steam.
Bang! Bang!
“Nice hit!”
Seeing that the stone in his hand had cracked but the two Root ninjas still swayed without falling, Fei Niao couldn’t help but admire them. Then, he gathered chakra in his hands and sliced through the muscles in their arms and legs.
Chakra Scalpel!
As a doctor, he knew exactly where to cut to incapacitate his enemies quickly without causing death.
This method was highly effective.
Watching the two collapse to the ground, Fei Niao dislocated their jaws before jumping into the pool below to rescue the three kids.
It only took him over ten seconds; those three kids shouldn’t drown, right?
…
When Fei Niao found the three children, he saw them rolling their eyes, and the water arrows occasionally spraying from their mouths confirmed they had indeed swallowed a lot of water.
After dealing with the children briefly, he walked straight to the two Root ninjas, squatted down, and examined them closely.
To be honest… since graduating from the ninja academy until now, he had encountered no less than ten waves of Root ninjas.
Some acted after saying just a couple of words, some after three; some took him to a secluded grove to fight, while others used excuses to lower his guard before striking…
In the end, they all resorted to violence.
But… attacking immediately, this was the first time he had ever seen.
Looking down at the female ninja lying on the ground, Fei Niao reached into her mouth, pulled out her tongue, glanced at it, and shook his head.
“Indeed, it’s the Tongue Curse Seal. Your skills are really lacking; attacking right away…”
“Forget it!”
After putting her tongue back in her mouth, Fei Niao wiped his finger on her clothes and continued, “Don’t give me that look as if you’re willing to die; I’m not asking for information.”
Upon hearing this, the expressions on the faces of the two Root ninjas turned to shock, but then they seemed to realize something, and their eyes dimmed instantly.
Not asking for information meant he was going to kill them directly.
“Don’t worry!”
Fei Niao seemed to know what the two were thinking, casually picking his nose and saying, “I won’t shed the blood of fellow village ninjas. Although you attacked me, to me, we are all from the same village; we shouldn’t waste our village’s strength, right? Weapons should be aimed at outsiders.”
At this, the two Root ninjas became even more confused.
Had they encountered a saint?
Is there such a nice Uchiha?
After helping the two ninjas up, Fei Niao used his medical skills to reattach one of their arms, then had them sit facing each other with an arm’s distance in between.
“Ah!”
Fei Niao sighed, then sat beside them, revealing his Sharingan. He called the three Uchiha kids pretending to sleep over and addressed them, “I am Uchiha Fei Niao. Today, I will give you a lesson that you won’t learn anywhere else.”
“Then you…”
One of the kids sniffed, feeling a bit aggrieved, asked, “Why did you kick me?”
Hearing this, Fei Niao looked at the kid as if he were foolish and declared, “I just didn’t want to be distracted while fighting.”
Bang!
Seeing the kid about to say something else, he flicked the kid’s forehead with his finger, then turned to the two Root ninjas and said, “In your eyes, I see a strong desire to survive, and it just so happens that I’m someone who won’t raise a blade against fellow villagers…”
Hearing this, the female ninja looked at Fei Niao warily and frowned, saying, “What do you want? We won’t reveal any information, no matter what.”
“Not asking about that!”
Saying this, Fei Niao poked the three kids beside him to keep them focused, then took out paper and a pen from his pocket, continuing, “Since you attacked me, I’m still a bit uncomfortable about it.
While you drink, play rock-paper-scissors; whoever wins slaps the other.
A total of one hundred rounds.
Once you’re done, if I’m pleased, then we’ll all go back to our homes. However, if one of you wins, but the slap isn’t loud enough, then I’ll be the one to do the slapping.”
“Just that simple?”
The two looked at Fei Niao in disbelief, not believing he would let them off so easily.
The key point was that they weren’t being questioned about anything… just one hundred slaps, and it would be fine?
“Yep!”
Fei Niao nodded, then pulled out a few bottles of alcohol from his sealing scroll, raising his right hand solemnly, saying, “I swear by the honor of the Uchiha clan, I’m serious.
Alright, let’s get started!”
Upon hearing this, a spark of hope ignited in the hearts of the two Root ninjas; they hadn’t expected him to let them off so easily.
What a bunch of lunatics this clan is.
It’s just slapping, after all…
The two exchanged glances, and the female ninja said, “I’ll count to three, and we’ll go together.”
“Alright!”
1… 2… 3…
As soon as she finished speaking, the female ninja threw scissors, while the male ninja threw cloth.
Slap!
A crisp sound of a slap echoed, and Fei Niao looked at the large handprint on the male ninja’s face, shaking his head with a sigh.
“Such a pity!”
As he spoke, he handed over the drink in his hand to comfort him, saying, “Have a drink; once you drink enough, your face won’t feel numb.”
“Huh?”
Smelling the aroma of the alcohol, the male ninja looked at Fei Niao in surprise and subconsciously said, “You’re actually quite nice!”
Mm! Mm!
Fei Niao nodded vigorously, then summoned three servings of mustard-honey fried chicken buckets for the three kids, who began eating the chicken while watching the two slap each other.
No matter who lost, Fei Niao handed over a bottle of alcohol, offering words of comfort.
One child grabbed a chicken leg and looked at the two Root ninjas slapping each other, his eyes filled with confusion.
These two... are they crazy?
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Listening to the crisp sounds of slaps, the child poked his companion and whispered, “What are they doing?”
“Not sure.”
The companion shook his head, equally puzzled.
But honestly, this chicken leg is delicious.
Smack!
An even crisper slap echoed, and the male ninja covered his cheek in disbelief, looking at his companion with a confused expression.
Why the hell… did you suddenly hit harder??
“Slipped!”
The female companion smiled awkwardly; she really hadn’t controlled her strength well just now… or rather, after drinking, her control over her body had diminished significantly.
“Phew!”
The male took a deep breath, not dwelling on it, then turned to Fei Niao and asked, “How many rounds are left?”
“78, still plenty of time!”
“Alright!”
After saying that, he swung his arms and rejoined the rock-paper-scissors game.
As time passed…
Smack!
The female ninja’s head tilted to the left as she rubbed her numb face, unable to believe what had just happened, looking at her companion with a questioning gaze.
Clearly, her strength had been acknowledged by that Uchiha just now, so why did she suddenly hit harder?
“Ahem… my body is a bit out of control…”
“Ha~”
The female ninja’s corner of her mouth twitched, suppressing her anger as she snatched the bottle of alcohol from Fei Niao, took a big gulp, and gritted her teeth, saying, “Let’s do it again!”
Smack… Smack…
As both sides slipped more and more, the two, who initially had the intention to control their strength, became increasingly casual, often landing slaps that could send the other rolling on the ground for several circles.
In the end, Fei Niao looked down at the two with teeth scattered on the ground and waved to the three kids behind him, pointing at the two still slapping each other, asking, “Do you understand now?”
“No!”
The three shook their heads, truly not comprehending.
However, they did notice one thing: the two were getting fiercer with each slap.
Seeing the puzzled looks on the three kids’ faces, Fei Niao stood up, brushed the dust off his pants, and walked a bit further with the three kids, quietly explaining, “They are loyal ninjas of Konoha, faithful to Danzo, and expecting to gather intelligence from them is nearly impossible.
But nearly doesn’t mean absolutely…
Sometimes, cracks in the heart can be deadly.
These people won’t disclose information about their superiors, but they can provide information on enemies of Root.
Moreover, I’m paying for information about their enemies.
If outsiders want to buy information about our villagers and they sell it, that’s a crime of betraying the village.
The pressure of betraying the village is immense, you know.
But who are we…
We are the Uchiha, the noble clan of Konoha, the Konoha guard.
If they sell us information, the psychological pressure will be much less.
When we investigate Root’s intelligence, that doesn’t even count as reconnaissance; it’s called inspection.”
Watching the looks of admiration gradually emerge in the three kids’ puzzled expressions, Fei Niao put his hands on his hips, showing an expression of great pride.
This secret he couldn’t share with those in the clan; otherwise, they would be scared to death.
Gathering intelligence on Root…
This is essentially no different from gathering intelligence on the ANBU.
Next, he planned to combine the intelligence he had on hand to proactively infiltrate the hearts of Danzo’s subordinates.
The reason Danzo could be so tough was that 50% of his confidence came from his subordinates, 30% from the Third Hokage, and 20% from his own strength.
In the future, once he mastered all the personnel information, infiltrating everyone’s hearts, he would know everything about Root, even what pants someone wore today.